


Simple Mistakes

by GlitterSin



Category: Original Work
Genre: Death, F/M, Gen, Guilt, Magic, Meadow, Murder, Serial Killer, Talking Tree, Time Travel, Wishes, blame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-22
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-10-31 03:35:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10890855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlitterSin/pseuds/GlitterSin
Summary: This is a short story I wrote as a school project. The chapters are short, but whatever. The original was all at once and my teacher commented that it was broken up weird.





	1. Chapter 1

I was running. Running through the woods, away from the yelling and screaming. Aki yells and screams at me all the time.  
 _"You could have done something!"_  
 _"It was your fault!"_  
   I was the only witness when… when _it_ happened. So Aki blames me.  
   I didn’t know where I was going, just away. Eventually, I came across a narrow, subtle path. Going through it, I discovered a nice meadow. I stepped into it, looking around. It was rather pretty, though upon further inspection, some of the plants looked… different.  
   I touched one of the trees, startled when a face appeared on it. I took a step back, staring at it, as it began to speak.   
   "Hello there, young one."  
   I didn't respond, trying to understand what was happening. This definitely wasn't normal.  
   "There is no need to be frightened. I'm simply an ancient and magical tree that has been asleep for a very long time."  
   I blinked, unsure of what to believe. This all seemed odd enough for this to be true....  
   "How about I give you a nice reward for awakening me, if only for a short time? You see, after you leave this place, it will travel to a new forest, perhaps returning only in a hundred years. And when it leaves, I shall return to that slumber. For your gift, I will give you a wish. Tell me what you wish for, and it shall be granted."  
   I thought for a few moments. Thought of Aki's yelling, the incident, and the blame given to me... I could have wished for Aki to stop yelling. I could have wished for [him/her] to stop blaming me. Wished Haru's incident never happened. But of course I didn't...  
   "I wish... I wish for the ability to go back in time. To fix some mistakes myself."  
   "Very well... I shall grant this ability, but know that changing the events of the past could lead to potentially disastrous results for this time." I should have taken the tree's words to heart, but I more or less ignored them, though I nodded. "Then go. This ability will be awoken after you go sleep tonight. Be careful...." The face whispered the last words, before dissolving back into solid bark.  
   I turned, going back through the path to the rest of the forest, thinking over the events that had just gone over. When I turned back, the path had disappeared.  
   I walked home, where I lived with Aki, and before, Haru as well. I slipped into the house, heading up to my room quietly. Aki was in her room, I had to make sure she wouldn't notice me. I made it to my room, going to bed and awaiting the morning.


	2. Chapter 2

I awoke to morning light, quickly recalling the night before. To be able to go back... to fix this... to stop this.... All these thoughts played at the edges of my mind, shifting around in quick succession. I hadn't asked how it would work... I'd have to figure that out myself. I knew what time I was going to... that night. The night Haru was killed. The night I did nothing. This... I could go back. Do something this time. Make it so Haru stayed alive.  
   I closed my eyes, thinking about the night... it was dark. Haru and I had been out. Originally Aki had been with us, but she had gone home early. We were having a nice time, when suddenly, strangely, Haru had seemed in a rush to leave. At the time, I didn't know what had triggered the reaction.  
   _Haru laughed, ordering another drink._  
   "That's great, Hikari!" He told me, in response to a stupid story I told. He took a sip of the drink, looking around the restaurant. His smile fell at whatever he had seen. He turned to me, telling me, "Hikari, we need to leave. Now." He took me through a back door of the building, pulling me along. Haru dragged me along a dark alley.  
   "Come on Hikari! Hurry up!" He told me, constantly glancing over his shoulder. I looked back too, sometimes, when he did, but I never saw anything. Eventually, we ran into a tall fence. Too high to climb,  and with wire at the top. We turned, standing against the fence, waiting. I stood at the corner of the fence and the concrete wall of the building beside us, looking around. Haru stood at the middle of the fence. After a few tense moments, I heard soft footfalls at the other end of our alley. We waited as they drew closer. Not long later, the figure drew near enough that I could make out some of their features from the light coming through one of the windows above. Not a remarkable face. Not someone I would look at twice in a crowd. Haru glared at her darkly. There was something going on I didn't understand. The girl stepped forward, a look of pure focus etched across her face. When she came within arms length of Haru, he held up his hands to push this girl back. However, the girl saw it coming and was too quick. She ducked around Haru's hands, and all I saw was a silver flash from a knife reflecting the lights, before there was a splash, and a series of red puddles around them. She took a step back, looked at me, and ran off.   
   "Hikari!"  
   I blinked, opening my eyes to see Haru and Aki in front of me. Looks like that works, I guess. "Hm?" I responded.  
   Haru rolled his eyes. "I asked if you wanted to go out with us to dinner tonight?"  
   "Oh. Okay. Sure!" I nodded, looking up at them. "Let me get ready."  
   Haru nodded, stepping out of the way. "Hurry up, we're leaving soon."  
   "Right." I replied, heading upstairs. I changed into a comfortable outfit, getting a knife and slipping it into my pocket.


	3. Chapter 3

I watched the two of them talking, sipping a drink. It was nearing the time when Aki had originally left. I had to get out of here before she left, so I could be in a position to intercept the girl before she got to Haru.  
   "I'm going to the bathroom." I said, standing up. They didn't seem to notice as I walked away. Entering the bathroom, I looked around. There was a small window, not too small to fit through though. I pushed it open, climbing through it. I wandered down the alley, picking a hidden spot about halfway down the route we had taken. I waited there for about ten minutes before seeing Haru run past, predictably alone. He was noticeably faster than when he had had me with him. Meaning there would be a greater distance between him and the girl, so he probably wouldn't hear me do anything.  
   I waited a bit longer for the girl to come. As soon as she passed me, I came out, grabbing her from behind. Holding my left hand over her mouth, I pulled my knife out with my right. Putting it through her trapezius, I then dropped her to the ground, pulling the knife out and letting her bleed. I turned to walk away when I heard a whisper.  
   "Wait..." I turned my head back. As suspected, she was trying to talk to me. "...I was... doing it... for the world... the world's good..." She coughed blood onto the ground and looked up at me. "I... saw you... with him... What you've done.... is a mistake..." She fell silent, head dropping to the ground. I stood, watching the strength leave her as she drew her last breaths. Then I walked back to the alcove I had hidden in earlier. I took out the jacket I had left there, putting it on over my now-stained shirt. Nothing I could do about my jeans, but it was dark so it probably wouldn't be noticed. Better to play it safe anyway. I began walking home, taking side streets and alleys while avoiding any streets with people.  
   I got home, looking into the front window, and, seeing Aki, went in through the side door. I went up the stairs in the kitchen, avoiding the front room, and entered my own room. I pulled out a new set of clothes and went into the bathroom connected to my room. Dropping the clothes onto the floor, I took off the bloody garments and stepped into the shower to wash the blood off of my skin. I washed myself completely, watching the red water flow down the drain. I got out after ten minutes, drying myself off and pulling on the clean clothes. I walked out of the bathroom, dropping the stained clothes onto my closet floor before closing the closet door. I'd have to wash them myself. I sat at my desk, pulling out a book and beginning to read. I heard Haru come in twenty minutes after I started reading. I listened to his footsteps coming up the main staircase. The sound of a door opening and closing made a soft echo through the otherwise silent hallway. My mission complete, I closed my eyes and thought back to the present.


	4. Chapter 4

I opened my eyes to see my room, where I had left off in, except now with light filtering through the window. Looking at my clock, I saw it was the same time I had left. I got up, getting dressed before walking out of the room. Better sooner than later to see what 'potentially disastrous results' awaited me as consequences for what I did.   
   I walked down the stairs, going into the kitchen to get breakfast. After getting some cereal, I went into the dining room where Haru and Aki were eating. That means that it worked. I sat down, eating my cereal. Conversation was minimal, we were more focused on eating. After everyone ate, we went separately to do our own thing. Me, I walked out to the woods. I wanted to take a nice, peaceful walk. I wandered around, looking around at the flowers, the trees, the forest animals. I found a small clearing, deciding to take a short nap. I lay on the edge of the clearing, on a soft patch of grass against a tree. The dreams I had then still bother me, even now.  
   _I stood alone, in a solid black void. I took a step forward, noting that I could hear only silence. I couldn't even hear my own breathing, my own footsteps._  
   I walked for a while. I don't know how long, but the pitch black didn't break. Holding up my hand in front of me, I realized I could see myself. The only sense of life in this place. I began walking again. What was this place? I looked forward, straining to see anything. After what seemed to be a few minutes, I noticed something white in the distance. Perhaps a way out? I continued forward, gradually noticing spots of a dark red and some brown along the path I was on. I brushed it off, focusing on the white area. Then the body parts began to show. At first they were small, too small to be identified. As I progressed, though, they gradually got larger and larger, growing to entire torsos, then nearly complete corpses. I realized my focus had shifted to the bodies, and looked back up to see my distance from the white. I was now near enough to make out that it was a pale figure. A vaguely familiar figure... No. No. No, no, no, why is she here? I drew closer, noting that she was facing away from me. The way she had been when I killed her. I took another step forward, falling back when she turned unnaturally quickly, staring eerily at me. Suddenly she launched herself towards me, screeching, "I WARNED YOU."  
  I woke up, gasping. I looked up, taking deep breaths, noticing it had gotten dark. I walked to the center of the clearing, thinking about going home, when I heard a twig snap behind me. I tried to turn, but for some reason, my vision was suddenly blurry. I tried to look forward, but couldn't clearly make out what I saw. It appeared to be... Haru? I tried opening my mouth to say something, but before I could, I blacked out.


	5. Chapter 5

I didn't wake up. Not in my body, at least. When I opened my eyes, I was suspended over my body. What was left of it, at least. It was in pieces, half of it scattered across the clearing, the other parts in a hole dug into the ground where I had slept.  
   I had been killed and dismembered by Haru. He could be seen dropping bits into the hole, his clothes and the side of his face covered in blood splatters. My blood.   
   Haru was a killer. Apparently this clearing was his dump site for victims. I had a chat with the spirit of the girl I had killed. She told me that she had witnessed one of the murders, the murder of her brother. She had walked in in the middle of it, and managed to get out before he got to her. She had decided he needed to be stopped, because what she had seen, was not the work of someone new to killing. She had found him, following us to the restaurant that night. After he left she had followed him, and on the way to dispatch him, that was when I killed her. That part I knew.  
   After waiting a while for her to come, Haru had come back up the alley. He had brought her body back here, not bothering to mess with it. We couldn't come up with a good reason as to why he did any of this. But he did do it.  
   I write this, because someone should know. Hopefully whoever finds this will be able to do something.  
   I worry for Aki.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short story I wrote as a school project. The chapters are short, but whatever. The original was all at once and my teacher commented that it was broken up weird.


End file.
